Development and validation of an emic scale to measure ad-evoked nostalgia in France

Abstract

The practice of imbuing marketing communications with nostalgic reverie is prevalent in numerous countries. However, scholarly research investigating consumer response to such communication across cultures is lacking. This inquiry follows an emic approach examining and measuring ad-evoked personal nostalgia in France. Findings from five studies (N D 699) reveal significant differences in consumer reactions in France, as compared to earlier research based on American samples. Among the French, nostalgic advertising evokes personal memories and cultural nostalgia, contrasted to reports of past imagery, physiological and positive and negative emotional reactions in the United States. Furthermore, while cultural nostalgia is an important component of the French personal nostalgic experience, it is the personal memories that are the key to the creation of positive impressions about the ad and brand (brand heritage, brand bonds, and attitudes), and driving behavioral intentions. The emic French scale was found to be superior to an etic ad-nostalgia measure, in terms of fit and variance explained of the endogenous variables. The findings contribute to cross-cultural advertising and marketing research, and can be instructive for advertisers targeting the French market.

The moderating role of openness to experience: Influence of nostalgia on purchase intention

“…First, it is confirmed that nostalgic respondents wanted to spend their money on Viennetta Ice Cream. This finding is consistent with previous studies that nostalgia has been used in advertising in various countries and is effective in increasing demand for products and services provided by companies (Merchant & Rose, 2013;Ferry, 2003;Kessous, 2014;Merchant & Ford, 2016). Nostalgic marketing strategy in product marketing can attract consumer interest to make purchases.…”

Emotions among winery tourists: new vs old wine world

“…In contrast, in cultures with a high component of group dynamics, the opposite is true. Merchant et al (2016) found significant differences between emotional reactions to nostalgic advertisements in France compared to those reported in similar studies in North America. Likewise, Orth et al (2007) found differences in the emotional responses of students from four different countries in Central Europe.…”

Brand heritage: The past in the service of brand management

“…Finally, communication is an important area for the deployment of brand heritage. Advertising has been the subject of much research in terms of consumer analysis through the perspective of nostalgia (Merchant et al, 2016;Merchant and Rose, 2013;Muehling and Pascal, 2011;Pascal et al, 2002). These studies argue for a distinction between the stimulus (e.g.…”